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New York City Council to Give Green Light to Cornell’s Tech Campus

Back in March the NYC Planning Commission approved plans for Cornell’s new tech campus located on Roosevelt Island – and now it looks like the university is about to jump its final hurdle. The City Council just announced that it will vote to approve the 2-million-square-foot sustainable campus, and if all goes as planned, construction will break ground in 2014.

Designed by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill and Thom Mayne of Morphosis, the new campus will occupy a 12-acre site on Roosevelt Island. It will incorporate a number of sustainable building strategies and systems in both the campus and in the surrounding neighborhood. The first phase of construction will see the realization of the university’s main structure, a net-zero building designed by Mayne, as well as a pedestrian connection to Four Freedoms Park, a residence hall and a hotel and office space.

Concerns over noise, traffic and waste have been raised since the project was announced, and as a result, the city has agreed to fund a one-year summer ferry service to the island to explore new public transit options. Cornell has also said that it will make concerted efforts to not impose on local roads and environs, by barging construction materials and waste to and from the site and monitoring air quality throughout the entire building process, which is estimated to span 20 years.

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Slideshow

New York City Council to Give Green Light to Cornell's Tech Campus

Cornell NYC Campus

1 of 2

Back in March the NYC Planning Commission approved plans for Cornell's new tech campus located on Roosevelt Island - and now it looks like the university is about to jump its final hurdle. The City Council just announced that it will vote to approve the 2-million-square-foot sustainable campus, and if all goes as planned, construction will break ground in 2014.

Cornell NYC Campus

2 of 2

Back in March the NYC Planning Commission approved plans for Cornell's new tech campus located on Roosevelt Island - and now it looks like the university is about to jump its final hurdle. The City Council just announced that it will vote to approve the 2-million-square-foot sustainable campus, and if all goes as planned, construction will break ground in 2014.